Formally known as the "Burro Cienaga Ranch", "Bart McDonald place", "McDonald
Brothers" and "Pitchfork", the ranch has been in continuous cattle production for over a
century. Fifty-five driving minutes southeast of Silver City, it is equal distance northeast of
Lordsburg. The ranch currently consists of 12,000 acres, 5,000 deeded, the balance state and
BLM lease land. It is permitted for 99 cow-calf pain.
The Burro Cienaga is a substantial riparian zone and the ranch's major feature. This
corridor is habitat for goodings willow, freemont cottonwood, emory oak, Arizona ash, walnut,
scrub oak and hackbeny, with the semidesert grassland dominated by over 40 identified
grasses, along with juniper, mesquite, barrel and cholla cactus, soaptree and banana yucca,
bear grass and sotol. Defined as "slow moving water, marsh or swamp" in Spanish, the"cienaga" is perennial and bisects the ranch from north to south. The stream is above ground
for 1 112 miles, the balance subsurface. The water sources for the Bum Cienaga are canyons
that drain from a 45square-mile watershed and the perennial Cienaga Spring.
The upper 114 and southem 314 of the ranch, 3,000 and 9,000 acres respectively, are
set apart by Separ Road, a Grant County maintained road that runs approximately 30 miles
from the town of White Signal on Highway 90 to Separ on Interstate 10. The ranch is midway
between the two. The headquarters, bunkhouse, bam, corrals and other outbuildings are
located in the canyon south of Separ Road. The ranch has 8 dirt tanks, 7 wells (29-40') and 5
steel rims with ovemow ponds. There a 26 miles of exterior fencing, interior pasture fences
and 28 miles of ranch road. The surrounding area consists of active cattle ranches with
minimal urban encroachment. There is an old perlite mine with 3,000 acres' mineral rights
owned by Toro Mining Co., but neighboring ranchers scoff at its potential in view of past
failures.
Raised in Phoenix, thereafter living in Casa Grande, AZ, for 32 years, A.T. & Cinda
Cole purchased the ranch in 2003 and retired to the property, permanently residing at the
ranch headquarters. "We expect to live out our lives here, leave the ranch to an entity that will
preserve its historic integrity and support a viable rural livelihood. Priorities differ, but our
plans are similar to the Appleton family's example recounted in 'The View From Bald Hill' by
Carl and Jane Brock."
The overarching goal is sustainable ranching and land restoration, to preserve this
place by retaining water on the ranch and in the ground, reducing run-off, erosion, evaporation
and crowding out of native grasses by invasive woody plants. We expect to: (1) refurbish the
headquarters and surrounding structures, (2) retain the ranch's historic character, (3) baseline
photopoint monitoring, raingauge data collection and mapping, (4) riparian and upland repair
to bring more flow to the Cienaga, (5) upgrade and retire roads, (6) rebuild the cattle herd and
use it for production and restoration, (7) increase grassland. (8) prevent urban encroachment
and open space fragmentation, and (9) enhance wildlife habitat. Existing species include
pronghorn, white tail and mule deer, peccary, skunk, raccoon, fox, coyote, rock squirrel,
coatimundi, golden eagle, great homed owl, a variety of hawks, 70 other documented bird
species and common Chihuahuan wildlife.
(A.T. & Cinda Cole, 15.15 Separ Road, Silver City,
N.M. 88061 [505] 5748593. atandcinda@starband.net [1/19/06])
